Department of Data

Subscriber bonus: Are people moving to Canada to escape U.S. politics?

The Department of Data is still on assignment, but here’s another video — and some charts about hay — for your enjoyment!

2 min
A Japanese maple tree after an ice storm in Toronto on Dec. 22, 2013. (Chris Helgren/Reuters)
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The Department of Data is on a staff retreat this week. And by staff retreat, we mean that “we blew our budget on voter data, so we’re just hunkering down in our in-law’s spare room and living on leftovers.”

Newly deputized video maestros Daron Taylor and CJ Riculan are in charge for now, and they’ve been experimenting with short one-minute video versions of our data-diving expeditions. This one addresses a common question about why Americans are moving abroad.

When most Americans move out of the country, it’s usually not because they’re sick of politics. So why do Americans really move abroad? (Video: Daron Taylor/The Washington Post)

Please let us know what you think! Operators are … well, to be honest, we don’t have the budget for operators right now, so no one is standing by. But we will definitely read your cards and letters when we return!

Until then, please enjoy these charts about U.S. hay exports. (One of the many hazards of being related to a card-carrying data dork is that your idle inquiries about nearby agricultural adventures will be met with unwanted salvos of statistics.)

As it happens, America exports fewer than 1 in 20 bales of hay it produces, though some states, particularly Pacific ones such as California and Washington, rely a bit more on overseas hay hustlers.

Greetings! We may be out of town, but the Department of Data still needs your queries. What are you curious about: The voting patterns of the Indian diaspora? The trends that really predict presidential elections? The time and money spent on continuing education credits? Just ask!

If your question inspires a column, we’ll send you an official Department of Data button and ID card. We probably owe buttons to Bill and Carol Van Dam for their alfalfa-related speculation.